


Softer than expected

by Raibebe



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, Jaehyun is a sweetheart, Johnny is a giant flirt, Kun needs a break, NCT are a big family, NCT are bikers?, Side KunTen, also something close to a panic attack but not really, no beta we die like men, side johnten, there is going to be blood so be warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:14:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26731219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raibebe/pseuds/Raibebe
Summary: Even though the little voice in your head that told you no, you still ended up applying for the job in the shady bar, because money was money and you needed it. But no one, not even the little voice in your head that liked to always come up with the worst scenarios could have prepared you for what happened during and after your first shift.“Please,“ he begged, his voice sounding strained, “Let me explain this, don’t hate me.“You realized, perhaps a bit belatedly, that this night wasn’t going to be like what you had imagined it in your head when you first had approached the table of the regulars clad in leather to take their order.
Relationships: Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Original Female Character(s), Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Reader
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	Softer than expected

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my first ever post on AO3.  
> I have honestly no idea what to say, please enjoy this little fic that was originally posted on my tumblr  
> In case this isn't blatantly obvious, this is heavily inspired by the concept pictures for "Punch".
> 
> Disclaimer: English is not my first language, all mistakes belong to me.

To say you were nervous before starting your first shift at your new job in a reasonably shady bar not too far from your apartment was an understatement. You seriously questioned your own sanity and why you had even applied for the job when you had seen the offer on the beat-up wooden entrance door next to an old motorcycle license plate and a bright green neon sign that illuminated the word ‘open’ a couple of days ago.  
The blue haired man behind the bar had given you a questioning look after you had entered the bar because you couldn’t have looked any more out of place with your soft sweater between the old wooden interior and the leather the barman and a handful of customers were wearing.  
It had cost all of your courage and a reminder that you needed to find a job for the weekends to walk up to the bar to ask the barman about the job offer. He had asked you a couple of questions like whether you had already waited tables before, which you had (at a place that was lit far better than this one but how different would it be?). The man who had introduced himself as Kun and honestly seemed like a big softie on the inside despite his serious look (it had to be the intense eyebrows) had agreed to hire you on the spot because he had the offer up for a while and no one had come in to ask about it and he couldn’t keep bullying his apparently very chaotic roommates to keep covering the shifts on the busy weekends anymore.

That’s how you found yourself here, a couple of days later on a Friday night, staring at the wooden door yet again (now missing the job offer and not yet illuminated by the neon sign). You took a deep breath and pushed through the door of the bar, this time not looking as out of place as you had before, wearing black skinny jeans and a simple grey v-neck.  
Kun looked up from where he was wiping down the counter, shooting you a smile. Today he had styled his hair up, exposing his forehead, and was wearing a black button up shirt with a bunch of white details that was missing quite some buttons at the top. “You actually came,” he grinned, “You can put your jacket and bag into the back room.” He pointed to a door with the label ‘staff only’. “We’re opening in half an hour. I’ll introduce you to the others once they decide to arrive.”  
Nodding you rushed to put your stuff away. You were pleasantly surprised by how clean it was in the back. The beat-up interior from the main room was nowhere to be found. So it really didn’t seem too bad if it was only shabby for aesthetic purposes.

After taking a couple of more deep breaths in front of the mirror in the staff room, you felt as prepared as you would ever be and emerged back into the main room of the bar.  
Next to Kun behind the counter was now another man, clad in the tightest pair of leather pants you had ever seen and a loose, see-through black blouse, his long blonde hair tied back into a ponytail, showing off a variety of piercings in his ears that were reflecting the low light of the neon signs.  
When both men noticed you, the blonde flashed you a bright smile and quickly wiped his fingers on the towel he had used to dry some glasses and held it out for you to shake.  
“Hi, I’m Ten. Kun told me he had finally found someone willing to help us out on the weekends but he missed to tell me how cute you are. Don’t worry the customers are all nice and if anyone gives you any problems, weird stares or makes inappropriate comments, just tell me immediately and I’ll throw them out,” he introduced himself. You couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the image of this petite man throwing drunken men twice his size out of the bar.  
“Thank you,” you answered before introducing yourself as well.  
“Would you please wipe down the tables in the back?” Kun asked, handing you a cloth, “The other waiter should be here any minute, so he can walk you through the process.”  
“You’re all males working here?” You asked shyly while starting to wipe the tall round tables closest to the bar.  
“Honey, there’s not many women brave enough to even set a foot in here even though about eighty percent of our regulars and hundred percent of our staff are big softies hiding behind leather jackets and tattoos,” Ten chirped, disappearing beneath the counter to check the tubes of the beer taps.

Speaking of the other staff, as if on queue the door slammed open to reveal a ridiculously tall man with the biggest brown eyes you had ever seen, his platinum hair swept back from his forehead, a huge grin plastered on his face.  
“Yooo, the poster with the job offer is gone, did you finally find someone?” The man all but shouted, excitedly bouncing up and down on his way to the bar, shucking off his leather jacket and carelessly throwing it on one of the barstools to reveal toned arms and a strong chest straining his short-sleeved black shirt.  
“Xuxi, indoor voice please,” Kun groaned, massaging his temples.  
“Oh sorry,” the other man - Xuxi - answered, flashing Kun big puppy eyes.  
“We did find someone, please don’t scare her off,” Ten answered Xuxi’s initial question, emerging back from under the counter, smashing the door shut, which caused Kun to groan again.  
“That thing has a handle for a reason,” he sighed.  
“It keeps opening itself back up otherwise,” the smaller man shrugged, leaning against the now spotless counter, a mischievous smile on his lips.  
“Wait, her?” Xuxi asked, eyes wide in either excitement or amazement, “As in she? A girl?”  
“Yes, hello,” you quietly introduced yourself, stepping out from the corner where you had been cleaning the tabletops.

“Wow, you’re so pretty,” Xuxi said instead of a proper introduction when you walked over to where the three men were standing. You could feel the heat rise to your cheeks, tinting them a rosy color.  
Sighing, Kun took the dirty cloth from you and rinsed it in the sink. “This is Xuxi, the other waiter for tonight. As you might have noticed he doesn’t have much of a filter, but I swear he is harmless.”  
“Just call me Lucas at work, it’s easier,” the man in question grinned, not even bothering to correct Kun and extended a hand for you to shake (needless to say because he was unnecessary tall, his huge hand could almost cover your whole fist).  
“I’ll teach you everything you need to know,” he beamed and even though he had just called you cute, he was definitely the cutest person currently in this room.  
“Thank you,” you murmured, a smile spreading on your lips because Xuxi’s grin was really infectious and you felt your anxiety disappear.

In the remaining time before the bar would officially open, Xuxi taught you everything you needed to know. From their system and how you’d take the orders and which tables you would serve to special drinks that weren’t on the menu and what to do if any customers would give you trouble.  
“There’s probably not much to do for the first two hours or so”, Xuxi concluded, running a hand through his platinum blonde hair, making his muscles dance beneath his shirt, “Like that you can get used to it before it gets packed. Fridays are always busy and there’s a bunch of different people coming. Did any regulars call in before?” He asked the last question to the general direction of the bar.  
Flipping through a book next to the cash register, Ten nodded. “127 are coming in, they got that big table in the back but other than that, no one called.”  
“What’s 127?” You asked curiously because that was one of the tables you were supposed to serve.  
“They’re a group of guys our age, but I’m not really sure what exactly they are to be honest,” Xuxi laughed while fixing the belt that held his wallet before handing you your own one.  
“I think they are bikers,” Ten supplied, turning around to reorganizing the bottles behind the bar for the third time tonight, “At least some of them have bikes and they sure look the part. Have you seen Johnny’s new tattoo the other week, Xuxi? That must have hurt like hell.”  
“Yeah, I saw the post with his chestpiece on his Instagram. That man is ripped.”  
“Well, you’re one to talk,” you murmured under your breath, organizing the contents of the belt to your liking.  
Laughing out loud, Ten slapped Kun on the chest. “We need to keep her, I like her,” he giggled and Kun just shot you a slightly pained smile, rubbing where Ten’s hand had come down.  
“Oh come on, old man. I didn’t even hit that hard.”  
“Stop calling me old, I am literally just two months older than you,” Kun groaned, softly shaking a grinning Ten.  
Unbothered by the bickering of the two barmen, Xuxi called over from the door: “I’ll switch on the sign!”

~*~

Your anxiety came back at full force when the bar started to fill up one hour after it opened. Resisting the urge to hide behind the bar, you approached yet another group of shady looking men to take their orders. Like the other people you had served before, they gave you a weird look while looking up and down your frame once before asking if you were new here. You just nodded and smiled politely while writing down their orders before walking back to the bar where you took out one of the trays and put the note with the order on top so Ten or Kun could put the according drinks on top.  
“Here, have a little drink, the night is just beginning,” Ten grinned and pushed a glass into your hands before completing the order while somehow also dancing fluently to the music that was playing through the speakers now.  
You eyed the drink suspiciously, the deep orange color throwing you off a bit.  
“It’s not spiked, no need to worry,” Xuxi told you, suddenly appearing next to you, placing his own tray with empty glasses onto the counter, winking teasingly before grabbing a colorful bottle to pour a bunch of shots, so Ten and Kun could focus on the other, more complicated drinks on the orders.  
You drowned the sickly sweet drink quickly and put the glass next to the ones that needed to be rinsed. You mouthed Ten a ‘thank you’ when you picked up your order and he blew you an exaggerated kiss, making you giggle and feel a little more at ease. It was like he had known you were being nervous again.

After checking in with your other tables and earning a big tip from some truckers that actually had been really nice, you made your way back to the bar to help Kun with rinsing the glasses that had been piling up.  
“You remember those regulars that were coming in tonight?” the blue haired barman suddenly asked, “That’s them.” He nodded towards the door where a group of men was coming in. For a moment, your breath got caught in your throat because Ten hadn’t been wrong earlier when he said that those 127 guys looked like bikers. Honestly anyone of them could have been a model for the leather clothes they were wearing while standing in front of a Harley Davidson or thrashing something with a baseball bat. (Also was one of them wearing a metal harness beneath his leather vest?)  
“They’re all nice people, no need to worry,” Kun calmed you down, shooting you a reassuring smile before taking the beer glass from your hands that you had started to grip so hard, your knuckles were turning white.  
“How many are they?” You asked him curiously while eyeing the group as they made their way over to their designated table, greeting other regulars as well as Lucas (one of them was apparently just as incapable of having an indoor voice as him when he loudly yelled ‘Lucas’ before hugging the taller male tightly).

“Yooo, Johnny’s chestpiece looks even more sick in real life,” Lucas said with wide eyes when he came back to the bar. “Also he gave me 20 dollars so I would ask Haechan and Mark if they were even legal when they would order something alcoholic,” he grinned, “I’ll share if you do it.”  
“How am I supposed to know who to ask?” You asked because even though you were shy, 20 dollars were 20 dollars.  
“That’s the spirit,” Lucas grinned and threw an arm around your shoulders to turn you in the direction of the table where the men had sat down, not even trying to be subtle about it.  
“You see the one with the purple hair sitting next to the tall one with half his chest exposed? The purple haired one is Haechan and the tall one is Johnny. Mark is the one on the stool to the left, just ask Haechan for his age first, Mark will be the one to laugh the loudest,” he quickly explained.  
“You know them quite well,” you said, trying to fight the heat spreading across your cheeks because it didn’t happen any day that you were in such close proximity to a handsome man like Lucas.  
“I went to school with Mark,” he shrugged, letting you go when Kun yelled that his order was ready.

Before walking up to their table you took another deep breath to calm your furiously beating heart, repeating in your head how no one had been mean to you yet and that all your coworkers kept on telling you how nice they were supposed to be.  
“Hi everyone,” you greeted them when you arrived at the table, “Have you already decided what you want to order?” Seeing the chaos that the group was already in, half of them probably didn’t even notice that you had arrived at the table.  
“Guys!” The pink haired man wearing the harness type thing scolded the others that were bickering in the back of the little booth on the couch.  
“I’m sorry, they usually behave better,” he smiled and his big eyes combined with his pink hair made him look like he came straight out of an animation.  
“I’m Taeyong by the way,” the pink haired man supplied, flashing you a genuine smile, “You’re new here, right? I haven’t seen you around before.”  
“Today is my first day,” you nodded, blushing under the gaze of the handsome man, nervously playing with your little notepad.  
“Let’s order, guys!” Taeyong said, the others slowly turning their attention towards you. How all of them were this handsome was beyond your imagination. Blushing you introduced yourself as their waiter for the night for the second time and asked for their orders.  
One after the other they either ordered plain beer or some really extraordinary cocktails that you had never heard of before. When the purple haired boy, Haechan, ordered his cocktail, you took a deep breath before putting on your best poker face. “Could I see your ID to check your age first?”

As soon as the words had left your lips, the whole table fell dead silent and the boy’s mouth dropped open in surprise. But before you could lose your courage to mutter an apology, the boy that had greeted Lucas loudly before, burst out in laughter, that the others minus Haechan quickly joined and even you couldn’t hold back the grin that spread over your face.  
“Now that I think about it, could I see yours as well?” You followed up and asked the dark haired boy with the infectious laugh, whose eyes immediately turned into saucers, his mouth wide open while the others couldn’t hold their laughs anymore, the purple haired boy joining in now.  
“I’m sorry,” you giggled, turning to the last man to order when they all had calmed down, using the napkins on the table to exaggeratedly wipe their tears. “What can I get you?”  
When the man with the dark hair that was elegantly swept back from his face turned towards you, you could swear that time stilled for a moment. His dark eyes that were accentuated with a bit of eyeshadow fixed yours and you were captivated, unable to look away. When your eyes dipped lower for a second you could see the black ink of a tattoo on the pale skin of his neck. He seemed familiar but you couldn’t quite tell why. Maybe you had seen him around on campus. But even then you should have been able to tell because that tattoo really wasn’t subtle at all. Briefly you were wondering if he could ever work a normal job with something like that.  
“I think I’ll just start with a beer as well,” he spoke softly, his voice a deep rumble, tearing you from your thoughts.  
After you had definitely stared at him for way too long then it would have been acceptable, you tore your gaze away from him, quickly scribbling down his order as well, repeating what you had written down for the others to confirm.

“Great, then I’ll be back in a bit with your drinks,” you smiled after one of them had insisted that they should get a round of shots as well.  
“Can’t wait,” the tall one with the eagle tattoo on his chest said with a smirk on his lips, adding a cheesy wink that made you way more flustered than you would have liked.  
You quickly turned to hide your blushing face, speed walking back over to the bar to put their order down.  
“Did you do it?” Lucas eagerly asked, bouncing up and down in excitement where he was helping to dry some glasses behind the counter.  
“Where’s my money?” You grinned, holding out your palm towards him.  
“Waaa, you really did it,” he grinned while bouncing up and down excitedly and you could barely hold in the urge to coo at him. He really did resemble an oversized puppy. You barely knew him for more than a couple of hours but he already had wiggled his way into your heart.

“Lucas, you didn’t tell us such a pretty girl would be serving us tonight,” a smooth male voice suddenly interrupted. When you turned around, the tall man from the 127 gang (Were they a gang? Did they do illegal stuff?) came walking up to the counter, leaning against the polished wood.  
“She’s new here, I didn’t know either,” Lucas pouted, already grabbing two shot glasses to put up on the bar top, putting the third one back down when you shook your head. You weren’t going to drink on your first day of work even though it seemed to be normal when you watched Lucas fill up the two glasses with a shady looking liquid from an unlabeled bottle he had grabbed from below the counter. Clinking their glasses together both men drowned their shots and while the tall biker didn’t even flinch, Lucas broke out into a whole body shiver, squeezing his eyes shut.  
“This stuff is really fucking disgusting,” he grimaced before refilling one of the shot glasses again, shoving it in front of the other man again, “I don’t know how Ten manages to make these concoctions.”  
Grinning, the man in question suddenly appeared and snatched the shot glass from below the other‘s fingers, drowning it himself. The blonde only grimaced a little. “I gotta say, I’ve made better stuff but also definitely worse. Lucas, we need a new keg of beer, can you please get one from the back, you’re so much stronger than I am,” Ten pouted, batting his lashes at Lucas and rubbing one of his hands over the other’s muscled arms.  
“Be nice to her,” Lucas told the man with the big tattoo on his chest and quickly disappeared to the back.

“I’m Johnny by the way,” he introduced himself, running a hand through his dark red hair.  
“So you’re the one who asked Lucas to embarrass your friends,” you remembered, your eyes getting caught on the intricate feathers of the eagle that spread its wings over Johnny’s broad chest.  
He smirked when your eyes came back up to meet his. “That would be me. You like the tattoo?”  
“It looks nice,” you mumbled, embarrassed at being caught staring, “It’s not something you see every day.”  
“I have some other ones that are pretty interesting as well,” he winked.  
“Su-Sure,” you stuttered, feeling your face heat up for what must have been the millionth time this night.  
“You’re cute,” Johnny laughed, the sound bright and inviting, his eyes turning into little crescents.  
“What did you come over for? Did I miss something on the order?” You tried to move the conversation in a direction you were a little (a lot) more comfortable with.  
“I just thought I could put my muscles to use and help you carry our drinks, we ordered quite a lot. Also I still owe you money for pulling that prank on Mark and Haechan. Even though their faces were priceless.”  
“How old are they anyways?” You asked him because you didn’t actually end up looking at their IDs and Haechan especially did seem quite young.  
Digging out his worn-out wallet, Johnny fished out a twenty-dollar bill and teasingly held it up between two fingers. “They’re both of age, don’t worry, they just have baby faces.”

Snatching the note from his hands, you quickly stuffed it in your pocket. “Thank you,” you grinned, relieved that it really had just been a prank between friends.  
“How old are you then?” You heard yourself asking after you had glanced at the tray that Ten had been filling up, but a couple of glasses were still missing. The weird cocktails seemed to take quite some time to make (Why there was celery swimming in what looked like tomato juice was a mystery to you).  
“Let’s pretend I’m in my early twenties,” Johnny grinned, his long fingers playing with the cherries that were stuck to the rim of one of the cocktail glasses.  
“Pretend?” You were confused. He couldn’t be much older than you were.  
“It’s improper for old men like me to flirt with such pretty young girls after all,” he winked and stuck out his tongue.  
“You... You can’t be much older than me though,” you argued, trying to fight your shyness back down. But your furiously beating heart was betraying you. Luckily he couldn’t notice that from his place where he was still leaning against the counter, the long line of his body perfectly shown off; his legs seemed almost endlessly long in the heavy leather pants.  
Chuckling, he raked his eyes across your body in a similar way you must have seconds ago but you felt like you were burning up wherever he was looking.  
Within the blink of an eye he was in your personal space, crowding you against the bar.  
“I’m 25,” he breathed, “How long do you have to work today, honey?”

Before you could even think of an answer, Johnny was shoved backward by another man dressed completely in black. You recognized him as one of the men from Johnny’s gang, the one with the neck tattoo that had seemed weirdly familiar to you.  
“Leave her alone, Johnny,” he drawled, his voice barely more than a growl, “There’s someone waiting for you outside.” After a moment of heavy eye contact between the two males, Johnny scoffed and threw you another smile.  
“See you later, darling,” he chirped before turning towards the exit.  
“I’m sorry if he made you uncomfortable, he doesn’t know when to stop sometimes,” the handsome man spoke, his voice still deep but way less threatening.  
“It’s... It’s fine you wouldn’t have needed to step in like that,” you reassured him, “But thank you.”  
“Yeah, I don’t know, something just didn’t sit right with me when he crowded you like that. Especially when you’re new to this type of environment, it’s pretty different from your usual job.”  
“My usual job?” You asked, clearly confused, “Do we know each other?”  
“Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you had recognized me,” the man’s eyes widened in surprise and he averted his gaze as if he was embarrassed. “I’m Jaehyun. You know, the dude who keeps killing his plants.”  
Now it was your turn to be surprised. “No way. You look so different.”  
“It’s the clothes, right?” Jaehyun was rubbing the intricate lines of ink on his neck, looking up from between his dark lashes, smiling shyly, and now that his dimples were almost showing, you did finally recognize him.

He was somewhat of a regular customer at the flower shop you worked in during the week to help out the old lady who owned the shop, always coming in to buy new plants when he had managed to kill yet another one.  
Now in the heavy leather jacket with more buckles and straps than you could count, he looked so different than when he came to the shop, his dark hair fluffy so his bangs almost covered his eyes and wearing soft sweaters and jeans. You also somehow had never noticed the big tattoo that stretched around his neck.

* * *

You could remember the first time he came into the shop very vividly. It was just after your break that you had spent lazing around in the backyard of the shop in front of the little greenhouse, letting the sun shine onto your face, just basking in the moment for a bit, letting all your worries about money or upcoming exams melt away.  
The job at the little flower job didn’t pay very well because people these days bought fewer and fewer flowers and the old lady couldn’t afford to pay more but you couldn’t just leave her alone in the shop. You really enjoyed her presence and learning about the language of flowers and how to bind pretty bouquets.  
When the distant chirping of the old cuckoo clock in the shop announced the end of your break, you got up from your place and put your apron back on, so you wouldn’t accidentally dirty your clothes.  
You came back into the shop just in time to see the big load of new plants that were being delivered. Two boys were unloading a colorful truck while continuously bickering in what seemed to be Chinese about where to put the plants in the shop and on the sidewalk outside so people could still walk past.  
“Urgh, this sucks why did we let us get talked into helping out?” The one with green hair sighed after they had put the last plant down, handing the old lady the papers she had to sign that the shipment had arrived at her place.  
She chuckled while handing the papers back. “I’ve made some iced tea, have a little break, boys,” she smiled her kind, wrinkled smile at them, taking them to the little kitchen area in the back to pour each one of them a glass even though the smaller of them had declined her offer at least ten times while his green haired friend gladly took her invitation.

Smiling you reassured the old lady that you would rearrange the flowers and plants so you could fit them all into the shop and the small greenhouse in the back. Maybe her grandson would come in later to help you move the heavier plants. He always came to the shop to laze around without having his parents scold him and his grandmother could never say no to his charming smile that made any girl his age swoon. He had recently dyed his hair a soft pinkish shade and had been hanging around the shop a lot more because his parents weren’t quite fond of his style choices.  
You gently stroked the leaves of the little pink rose bushes (that had kind of reminded you of the boy in the first place) that seemed rather thirsty to you, making a mental note to water them lots after you had arranged them.

While rearranging the cut roses so you could fit the new bushes in between them, the little bell on the door rang, announcing the arrival of a customer.  
“I’ll be right over,” you said, detangling yourself from the bush you had tried to fit in the display window.  
“No need to hurry,” the customer answered with a deep voice. It wasn’t often that men visited your store. And most times they just wanted a quick, expensive looking bouquet to either impress a girl or to apologize to their wife.  
Putting on your best customer friendly smile, you walked over to where the man was eyeing some cherry tree bonsais, his broad back turned towards you. “How can I help you?”  
When the man turned around, he immediately politely smiled at you, making your heartbeat pick up just a little. He was definitely attractive, you couldn’t deny that. His dark hair was unstyled and hung into his eyes a bit, covering his strong eyebrows that every girl would be envious over. He seemed young, about your age. The pale blue hoodie and the fluffy hair made him seem very soft and gentle despite his strong jawline and prominent cheekbones.  
“Well I’ve moved into a new space and it looks a little empty, so I thought some plants might be the way to fix that,” he explained, fiddling with the hem of his slightly oversized hoodie.  
“That’s a great idea,” you beamed, trying to seem reassuring since he seemed rather nervous, “Do you have anything special in mind?”  
“No, I really don’t but those roses you just put in the display window look very pretty, it’s what made me come in,” he said, motioning to where you had been fighting with the roses earlier.  
“Roses need a lot of attention though,” you warned him, walking over to where you had tucked the little bushes into a corner.  
“I have a lot of time and like a good challenge,” he answered, a grin tugging at his lips, a set of dimples just barely showing, “You’re bleeding by the way.” He added, gently touching your hand.  
Startled, you jerked away, a deep blush spreading on your cheeks.  
“Oh, I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized, “But you should bandage that or it might get infected if something gets into the wound.”  
“Don’t worry, it’s not even that deep,” you concluded after examining the small cut on the back of your hand where you had lost the battle with one of the thorns. You quickly shot the man another smile that you hoped was reassuring.

“So do any of those roses look good to you?”  
“The pale orange ones look nice.”  
You couldn’t hold back a small giggle.  
“What’s so funny?” He asked, his beautiful brows drawn together in confusion.  
“The color is called peach,” you still giggled, grabbing the pot to show him the petals in the sunlight.  
“Well it is orange though,” he shrugged.  
“Men and colors,” you sighed dramatically but couldn’t help the smile spreading on your lips, “You like them and want to try caring for them?”  
“Yeah, let’s try it. Anything I should look out for?”  
While walking up to the cash register and ringing him up, you briefly explained how to take care of the roses the best.

“I hope they brighten up your room a bit,” you smiled when he had paid.  
“The visit sure brightened up my day,” he replied smiling widely, the set of cute dimples reappearing on his cheeks.  
Before you could overcome your sudden shyness to reply anything, he had already wished you a good day and disappeared from the shop.

After his visit, the man had crept back into your mind a couple of times. Every time you watered the little twin of the rose bush he had bought, it somehow reminded you of his sweet dimpled smile and his deep, soothing voice. You always scolded yourself when you noticed how you were spacing out, in fact watering the floor instead of the little rose bushes how you were supposed to. (You had been made fun of by a certain pink haired boy one too many times lately.)  
Your boss had just smiled knowingly and pressed a little bouquet with beautiful yellow Chrysanthemums in the middle, when you had closed up the shop, making you blush and furiously deny everything. But like always, the old lady knew you probably better than you knew yourself.

The second time the handsome stranger had visited the shop, he had been wearing a white turtle neck and a simple denim jacket, his hair pushed back with a dark blue hat.  
“Hello again,” he greeted you, gently smiling when he walked up to the counter where you were currently binding a bouquet with a couple of big purple hyacinths, “I’ll have a little look around. No need to hurry that.”  
Even though you tried to concentrate on arranging the flowers in the bouquet and picking smaller flowers that would look good with the big centerpiece, you kept glancing over to the man who was sniffing different flowers, quietly sneezing when he inhaled too deeply.

“Those are really pretty,” he said after he had not so subtly watched you work for a while from his place between the brightly colored geraniums while walking up to the counter.  
“The man who commissioned them paid a lot of money for them to look pretty,” you smiled, gently tucking smaller white flowers all around the big purple ones in the middle.  
“Does it mean anything? I’ve never seen this kind of flower,” he asked, seeming genuinely interested.  
“You’re interested in the language of flowers?” You asked, securely tying the bouquet together, placing them in a vase for the time being.  
“What languages would flowers speak?” The man asked, sounding genuinely confused.  
For a moment you could just stare at him, his dark brown eyes widened and his mouth slightly ajar, before you burst out in a fit of giggles.  
“Hey! What’s so funny?” He asked, trying to sound offended but he couldn’t fight the smile that spread across his lips.  
“They don’t speak any language, silly. The different types of flowers mean different things. I don’t know all of it but the owner of the shop has been teaching me some of it,” you explained to him.  
“Ooh, that makes a lot more sense,” he nodded, “What do those mean then?”  
“They’re hyacinths. The man told me he needed to apologize to his girlfriend. The purple ones stand for sorrow. I doubt she will notice though.”  
“Probably not,” he chuckled. “What did the rose mean I bought last time? The peach one?”  
“I’m not quite sure, I’ll ask my boss when she’s back. What brings you back here?”  
“Well,” he scratched the back of his head and averted his eyes, “I need a new plant, the rose was kind of a lot more work than I thought it was.”

“Oh no.” You felt genuinely sad. You kind of had expected it not to go well but this was honestly a lot faster than you could have imagined.  
“I should have listened to you when you told me that they were a lot, I’m sorry,” he apologized, “But I really want to try to keep a plant alive. She looked really good for the time she was alive.”  
“She?”  
“Well I gave her a name.”  
You giggled again. “That’s really cute.”  
“Not as cute as you though.”  
It was suddenly so silent in the shop, the only noise the soft buzzing sound coming from the air-conditioning. You stared into the man’s eyes, expecting a blush similar to yours to creep up his face or his ears, but his face stayed perfectly pale, not a single blotch of color visible. But he had to be embarrassed as well if the way he was chewing on his lips was any sign.  
“I’m sorry, that just slipped,” he mumbled.  
“I... Shouldn’t you at least tell me your name before you start complimenting me like that?” You stuttered when you found your voice again.  
“Jaehyun,” he supplied, still awkwardly shuffling around, “It’s Jaehyun.”  
“Alright Jaehyun, let’s find you a new plant that’s not as easy to kill.

From that day onward Jaehyun came to the shop somewhat regularly, either announcing the death of yet another plant or telling you how they were on the brink of death and he didn’t know how it happened or what to do to save them.  
You were really close to either tell him to stick to bouquets or cacti but when you were being honest, you enjoyed his little visits. He’d stay longer and longer every time, telling you little stories about how he suspected that his roommates were secretly killing all the plants. In turn, you told him about your boring life between your classes and your job. And sometimes you even taught him about the language of flowers while he was watching you put together a bouquet for yet another desperate boyfriend.

One visit in particular had stuck with you for some reason. Your whole day had just been bad: One of your professors had caught you slacking off in class and called you out in front of everyone, then at lunch a guy had run into you, making you drop half your food on the floor, and then it had started to rain on your way to work. And if that wasn’t enough, the old lady hadn’t been feeling well because of the sudden change in weather and you had sent her off into her apartment that was above the shop, so she could rest.  
So now you were just alone in the shop, watching the people outside hurry past the shop with their umbrellas. When it was raining even fewer people were coming into the shop because you couldn’t put any plants outside that often lured people in. Sighing, you continued with the inventory that you had started out of boredom. Of course you also hadn’t brought any useful books, so you could have studied a little.

You must have been deep in thought, moping about how much this day sucked, that you didn’t hear the little bell on the door ringing. So when someone touched your arm to get your attention, you of course were startled and let out a small scream before you lost your balance on the stepladder that you had used to count the spare pots on a higher shelf. And if that wasn’t enough, you also pushed one of said pots down as well.  
But before you could even brace yourself for the fall, a strong arm had wrapped around you, saving you from crashing down onto the floor and possibly cracking your head open.  
When you opened your eyes, that you had screwed shut, you saw straight into Jaehyun’s deep brown eyes that were full of concern. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he spoke softly and you could feel how his voice rumbled in his chest from how close he was holding you to his body.  
“It’s alright, it’s my fault anyways. I wasn’t paying attention,” you sighed, slowly realizing in what kind of situation you and Jaehyun were in right now. His face was so close to yours that you could almost count every single one of his long, dark eyelashes. You could even see the faintest little blush spreading over his cheeks. Your own face immediately felt hot and you knew that you were making some of the gerberas jealous with how red your face was turning.

Jaehyun just smiled and released you from his grip, gently setting the pot he somehow had managed to catch with his other hand back onto the shelf. He really must have incredible reflexes and obviously the most charming smile you had ever seen.  
“Don’t blame yourself, you don’t look too good today,” he spoke softly.  
“Wow thanks,” you sarcastically said, sighing theatrically while running your hands through your hair in an attempt to smooth it out, but probably messing it up further than it already was.  
“Hard day?”  
You snorted. Hard was an understatement. It sucked. But a little voice in the back of your head whispered that now that Jaehyun had come to visit you in the shop, it would get better.  
“You look like you could use a hug,” he smiled and opened his arms invitingly.

Before you could even think twice about it, you wound your arms around his middle and squeezed him tightly, burying your face in the soft fabric of his cardigan that he wore over one of his many turtlenecks. Chuckling, he grabbed the fabric and stretched it around you, so you were basically wrapped up in it against his chest, before wrapping you up in his strong arms.  
You were drowning in his by now familiar scent and the way his chest steadily rose and fell with his breath made all stress from your body slowly dissolve.  
“If you keep holding me like this I will cry,” you mumbled, trying to untangle yourself from him.  
“I don’t mind, you know? Sometimes you just have to cry to let all the stress out,” he assured you, rubbing soothing circles on your back.  
“Don’t say that. I will ugly cry in your shirt,” you hiccupped, “I barely know you.”  
“Oh I think you know me a lot better than a lot of people,” he smiled, “It’s an old shirt anyways.”  
“Liar, I’ve never seen you wear this before.”  
“You’re keeping track?” He chuckled.  
“That’s not what I meant by that,” you mumbled, blushing because how could you not keep track when he just effortlessly looked infuriatingly good every time he walked into the shop.

“You feeling better now?” Jaehyun gently asked after you two had fallen silent, just basking in each other’s presence. He gently tilted your head back from where you had buried it in his neck, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.  
“Yeah,” you breathed, captivated by him. You had never noticed the tiny mole he had on one of his cheeks but you found it really endearing.  
“Good,” he smiled, “I brought you coffee from the shop next door.” He motioned to the two cups he had placed on the counter next to the cash register.  
“You have a heart of gold Jaehyun,” you confessed, a smile slowly spreading on your lips and your heartbeat picking up. You kept the thought that he probably would also make the perfect boyfriend, to yourself. Not that it would matter, you were sure he didn’t see you like that.  
He just played it off, laughing awkwardly like he always did when he was embarrassed. (Coming to think of it, you really seemed to know him better than you had initially thought.)  
“Let’s drink it before it gets cold and you can tell me more about your day,” he offered and slowly loosened his arms around you.  
“Can you tell me about yours instead?” You asked with a small voice. “I’d rather forget all of this stupid day before you walked in here.”  
“Of course, darling,” he breathed.  
Your heart skipped a beat before doubling its pace when the pet name rolled off his tongue just like that. Maybe there was just the slightest little chance, he might consider you more than just the friend that worked in the flower shop that he had to visit to get advice on how to not kill his plants.  
Smiling and blushing again, you loosened your grip on him as well and you two sat down on the counter, dangling your legs and sipping the slightly cold coffee while you listened to Jaehyun ramble about the mess that were his flatmates. Until this day you hadn’t figured out how many people he actually lived with but you couldn’t help but smile at the little stories he told you.  
And even when he stopped talking, you just enjoyed the silence while watching the people outside.  
And maybe it was just your imagination but the umbrellas outside seemed just a little brighter with your head resting on Jaehyun’s broad shoulder.

* * *

“I’ve never noticed your whole tattoo thing that’s going on,” you said, motioning around your own neck when you came back from your fond memories of Jaehyun.  
“Yeah, I try to not let it show as much usually,” he replied, almost nervously playing with the collar of his leather jacket.  
“Did it hurt a lot when you got it?”  
“Yeah, the skin is kind of tender around your neck,” he answered, his gaze not meeting your eyes but fixating a point right behind you.  
“You get that question a lot don’t you?” you gently asked, fingers itching to reach out to touch him.  
“Yeah, it’s all people talk about when they see it,” he shrugged, “I’m used to it by now.”  
“Oh, I’m sorry,” you quickly apologized.  
“It’s fine,” Jaehyun reassured you, gently grazing his fingers over your exposed forearm, making goosebumps break out over your skin. “Yes, it did hurt. No, I don’t regret it. Yes, I probably can’t work a normal job if I’m not wearing a turtleneck. No, I didn’t get it in prison. It was done in a perfectly sanitary tattoo shop by a professional artist. No, I’m not a criminal”, he quickly addressed every typical question he apparently got about the tattoo in a single breath, a smile spreading on his lips, making his dimples appear and your heart beat faster.

“Glad to know I haven’t been talking to a criminal over the past few weeks even though you did kill an unholy amount of plants,” you giggled, checking again if the order was ready only to find Ten engrossed in a conversation with a group of young men that were sitting at the bar, his work forgotten.  
“Well I guess I am guilty of that,” Jaehyun pouted and it was weirdly endearing seeing him act playful like that with his dark and intimidating clothing.  
“So you’re not a criminal but a biker?”  
“Is that what you think our group is?” He asked, tilting his head to the side.  
“That’s what everyone told me at least. And you do look the part.”  
“A couple of us do have bikes, but I don’t think that justifies the title. We’re just a,” he bit his tongue for a bit, “We’re just friends. Friends who like to dress in a lot of leather and black clothing.”

It seemed to be a somewhat touchy subject so you decided to not push any further. “You don’t need to explain it to me,” you smiled reassuringly, quickly squeezing his cold hand.  
“Jaehyun, stop flirting with my best waitress,” Kun teased, adding the little shot glasses to the second tray that completed the order.  
“I wasn’t flirting, I-“ but Jaehyun didn’t complete his apology when Kun shot him a knowing look and you blushed on his behalf because Jaehyun didn’t blush like ever.  
“Stop making excuses and help her carry all this back to the table,” the barman grinned, returning to his work by pulling Ten back by the hairs on his neck from where he was still talking to the handsome customers sitting at the bar.  
“I would appreciate some help, that’s what Johnny came over for as well,” you tried to push past the awkwardness.  
“Like hell he was,” Jaehyun grumbled, grabbing one of the trays maybe a tad too forceful than he needed to, the drinks almost spilling over.  
“Don’t be angry with him, he was being nice,” you consoled him, gently petting his leather clad arm (wasn’t he warm in that thick jacket?).  
“I saw just how nice he was being,” he sighed, rolling his shoulders, “He’s such a goddamn flirt.”  
“Nothing happened Jaehyun,” you tried one last time, looking into his dark eyes, getting lost in the seemingly bottomless obsidian.

Only the thud of the heavy entrance door made you snap out of it and you quickly turned to grab the second tray. You hadn’t even noticed how you had gravitated towards Jaehyun, it was like his eyes had hypnotized you.  
“Need another pair of helping hands?” A familiar voice asked and Johnny strode over towards you two again, now with an energetic bounce in his step, his red lips curved into a smile.  
“We’ve got it,” Jaehyun answered, scrunching his nose as if he had smelled something bad before taking a deep breath.  
“Don’t wait too long, Jaehyun,” the taller said, his tone suddenly stern and his brows furrowed.  
“I can handle it, Johnny,” Jaehyun gritted out, shoving past the taller man to make his way over to the table where their friends were still waiting for their drinks.  
Sighing, you followed him back to the table. It was weird how different he was behaving with his friends around. You had never expected to meet him in any place outside of your job at the flower shop and much less in a place like this. The soft man who liked to wear denim jackets seemed to be buried beneath the heavy leather jacket.

“Here’s your drinks,” you smiled when you put the tray down to distribute the drinks.  
“You’re not drinking with us?” A blonde man with a scratch in his eyebrow asked when everyone had picked up their shot glasses.  
“It’s my first day, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” you politely declined his offer.  
“I’m sure Ten and Kun won’t mind,” he grinned, lifting up his own glass to hand it over to you.  
“She said no, didn’t you hear, Yuta?” Jaehyun growled and shot his friend a dark look.  
Unfazed by his behavior, the blonde - Yuta - shrugged his shoulders before drowning his shot himself, not grimacing in the slightest even though the liquid had a questionable amount of alcohol in it, judging by the numbers that had been printed on the label.  
“But I’m sure we can treat you to something else,” he spoke, before shifting in his seat so his poorly buttoned sleeveless shirt fell open even further, revealing smooth skin that stretched over lean muscles and a promise of something metal hidden beneath.  
“I-“, you stuttered, blushing violently. What were you supposed to reply to something like that?  
“You’re shameless,” one of his dark haired friends chuckled, a silver chain glistening in the light when he shook his head.  
“It’s called confidence,” Yuta defeated himself.  
“Still shameless,” another one agreed, a grin on his face.  
“He hasn’t had a good lay in a while, don’t mind him,” Taeyong cut in, shooting you a reassuring smile.  
“Certainly not because I didn’t have any offers, I’m just picky,” Yuta tried to defend himself, looking scandalized.  
You just giggled when the other’s started picking on him. You noticed that Jaehyun didn’t join in but his posture was more relaxed than it had been before. You really wanted to thank him for defending your choice to not drink but now didn’t seem appropriate. Silently you collected the now empty shot glasses and picked the trays back up.  
“I’ll be back to check in with you later then,” you smiled before walking back to the counter after checking in with a couple of other tables.

The rest of the night went down in a blur safe for the one occasion where the slender Ten indeed threw out one of the customers that couldn’t hold his liquor anymore and had fallen when he had tried to walk over to the bar to order more because Lucas had already refused to bring him any more drinks.  
The times when you had checked in on the 127 table, Yuta had still flirted with you only to be either shot down by Jaehyun or Taeyong. You had also noticed that over the course of the night one or two of them would always leave the bar for a couple of minutes before coming back inside with new energy and a faint blush on their cheeks. You didn’t know what they did out there but you really hoped they didn’t do drugs or anything like that. They didn’t seem as intoxicated as the other customers no matter how much they ordered. If anything Mark was getting giggly after he had come back inside but that was pretty much everything. They all must have an incredible tolerance for alcohol.

When the night died down and more and more customers were leaving, Kun waved you over to tell you that you had been a great help and he would be more than happy to see you again tomorrow for your next shift. You had beamed at him and promised to do your best.  
“I’m sure you will. Thank you for today, I think Lucas and I can handle the remaining customers,” he told you.  
“What’s with Ten?” You asked. You hadn’t seen him in a while.  
Kun just sighed and motioned to the 127 table where Ten comfortably sat on Johnny’s lap, the taller carding through the blonde’s hair that he had freed from the little ponytail.  
“Are they a thing?” You were confused. Johnny hadn’t been subtle about his flirting earlier.  
“No one really knows,” Kun groaned, suddenly seeming very irritated, “It’s been happening more lately but last week he went home with Taeyong as far as I remember.”  
“Oh...”  
“Don’t think about it too much. I want to say that he knows what he’s doing but that would mean that he’s actually using his brain.”  
Somehow you thought that he sounded sad.  
“Just tell Ten that you like him, Kun,” Lucas groaned, running a hand through his by now messy platinum hair.  
“I don’t like him,” the elder gritted out, violently cleaning glasses and slamming them onto a rack to dry.  
“Sure and I’ve never thought about making out with any of your roommates,” Lucas teased him.  
“You have what?”  
“Never mind I said that,” Lucas mumbled, his ears turning red before he made a beeline to one of his tables.

You chuckled quietly.  
“I think he’s fond of you as well,” you softly spoke after Kun had thrown another longing look to Ten who was busy admiring the eagle tattoo on Johnny’s chest.  
“You don’t need to console me, but I appreciate it,” he smiled but it didn’t quite reach his eyes, “I came to accept him how he is.”  
“You should at least try to shoot you shout though, don’t you think?” You tried again, stepping closer to the barman to help him clean the last glasses.  
He sighed deeply. “I’ve known Ten for too long now, I know he won’t suddenly become monogamous just because I tell him that I might not dislike him as much as I sometimes say.”  
“You can never know for sure, people do crazy stuff because of love,” a deep voice joined the conversation and Jaehyun sat down on the barstool in front of Kun and you, throwing you a quick smile.  
“He’s right,” you smiled, briefly squeezing Kun’s hand.  
“If I say that I’ll think about it, will you leave it alone for now?”  
You eagerly nodded, looking up at Jaehyun to see if he was doing the same. Instead a smirk played on his lips. “If you give me my drinks for free, I’ll even tell Johnny to not take Ten home tonight,” he grinned, holding up his card between two fingers.  
“You’re paying for everyone?” Kun just gritted out, snatching the card from the other’s fingers.  
Jaehyun’s grin widened before he nodded.  
“Isn’t that going to be a lot of money?” You asked worriedly. You had never asked but assumed Jaehyun must be a student like you, so paying the whole bill for nine men (well eight if Kun was giving Jaehyun his own drinks for free) was a lot.  
“I lost at rock paper scissors,” he shrugged, “Are you done with your shift?”

“She is,” Kun cut in, smacking the credit card back onto the bartop, “Tell Johnny to send him home, I’m not feeding his cats again because they’re screaming for food.”  
“Sure. That’s the only reason,” Jaehyun joked, pocketing his card with a grin. Kun didn’t answer, instead leaving you two alone to wipe some empty tables.  
“Are you going home alone?”  
“It’s not far from here,” you reassured the dark haired man.  
“I’ll walk you. You shouldn’t go alone this late.”  
“Only if it’s not a bother for you...”  
“Keeping you safe is never a bother for me,” he smiled, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind your ear and you barely suppressed a shiver from how cold his hands were against your blushed face.  
“I’ll tell the other’s not to wait for me and will wait outside for you,” he softly spoke before turning to walk out the door where his friends apparently had already left.

You quickly gathered your things and sorted out your tips from the rest of the money, putting everything back into the place that Lucas had shown you before disappearing into the staff room to stuff the money into your designated tip jar, so Lucas and you could share your tips with Ten and Kun.  
While you were quickly trying to fix your hair in the small mirror a very grumpy looking Ten joined you, groaning loudly.  
You had to suppress your smile. Jaehyun really had convinced Johnny to not take Ten home.  
“Men are trash, honey,” the blonde suddenly spoke, “Don’t fall for any of them.”  
“Did you get dumped?” You tried to act like you didn’t exactly know what must have happened.  
“Can’t get dumped if you aren’t dating,” Ten chirped, smoothing out a wrinkle in his silky blouse, “But something similar.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
“No need to be darling, I’ll just annoy Kun a little more, maybe he’ll actually pop a vein these days,” he giggled mischievously.  
“Be nice to him, he seems like an actual sweetheart,” you said while slipping on your jacket and picking up your bag.  
“He is, darling. But where’s the fun in that?” Ten held the door open for you and followed you back to the main room. “Be safe on your way home.”  
“Jaehyun is waiting outside for me,” you admitted, blushing under Ten’s gaze.  
“So that’s why Johnny wouldn’t take me with him,” he grinned.  
“No, no that’s not it. He just offered to walk me home,” you stuttered to explain yourself. It wasn’t like what Ten thought it was, right? Oh god. Not that Jaehyun was expecting anything now. He just had asked to walk you home though. Was it a code word for something you didn’t know?  
“I’m sure he only has the noblest motives,” the barkeeper snickered, “Go, don’t let prince charming wait for too long.” With that he waved you off, walking over to where Kun was wiping a table to drape his body over the other’s back, probably complaining about being dumped.  
But Kun didn’t seem to mind a whole lot, judging by the smile that tugged on the corners of his lips.

After you had barely escaped Xuxi’s suffocating goodbye hug, you stepped outside into the cold night, taking a deep breath.  
It was quiet for a Friday night but that might have just been the time. Worried you looked around when you couldn’t see Jaehyun’s broad figure anywhere. Did he ditch you? That didn’t seem like him.  
Curious you looked into the little ally beside the bar where the dumpsters were. At first you couldn’t make out anything in the dark but when your eyes had adjusted, you could make out a figure, no two, in the dark. One of them was wearing a familiar leather jacket with way too many buckles and straps to be convenient. The man was clinging to the second, unmoving figure and the whole scene made Goosebumps break out all over your body.

“J-Jaehyun?” you stuttered, your bag falling from your shoulder, landing on the concrete with a soft thud.  
As if he was electrocuted, the man with the dark clothes shoved the limp body he was holding onto just a second ago away from him, but no sound left the other man’s lips, nor did his facial expression change in any way.  
“I can explain this,” Jaehyun said, his lips a deep red and smeared with what seemed to be blood and eyes wide, tinted a bright crimson. You felt a shiver run down your spine, the scream that had been stuck in your throat threatening to spill now.  
But before it could rip free, a palm was pressed over your lips and your body collided with Jaehyun’s solid frame. “Please don’t scream,” he whispered in your ear which made all the hairs on your neck stand up.  
What was happening? Why was there blood on Jaehyun? Did his eyes change color? How did he get across to you within the blink of an eye? What was with the other person?  
In a panic, your eyes scanned the alleyway, and another muffled scream ripped from your throat when you saw that the man was still unmoving even though he was bleeding from a wound in his neck.  
“Please,” Jaehyun begged, his voice sounding strained, “Let me explain this, don’t hate me.”  
Being pressed so close to him, you couldn’t help but notice that his chest wasn’t moving in the slightest like it should if he was breathing. What was happening? Panic began to rise inside you and you felt like you were suffocating, your lungs not getting enough oxygen with Jaehyun’s palm pressed over your mouth. Panicking, you grabbed his wrist and let your nails dig into his skin, but the skin didn’t break. Desperate, you tried to get more air into your lungs, meeting his eyes in a silent plea.  
“Please don’t scream,” Jaehyun repeated firmly before he slowly freed your mouth, but kept holding you close.

You heaved a couple of heavy breaths, feeling the panic slowly disappear but your heart kept beating furiously, the adrenaline coursing through your veins making you dizzy.  
“Let me take care of this and I’ll explain everything, I promise,” Jaehyun spoke once your breathing had somewhat evened out. “I’ll release you now, don’t run away.”  
Your voice was still lost somewhere, so you just nodded. After confirming with a nod himself, he slowly uncurled from you and walked over to the other man who was still in a daze, staring straight ahead.  
“You will walk home now and not remember anything that happened from the moment you saw me approach you,” Jaehyun spoke to him, looking into his eyes intensely and if your own eyes weren’t playing a trick on you, Jaehyun’s eyes had turned a bright crimson color. He leaned into the other man's space again where his neck was still bleeding and when the man turned to leave and walk away, the area was clean. Instead Jaehyun’s lips were smeared with blood that he quickly wiped into his shirt.  
“What the fuck, Jaehyun?” You whispered, your voice sounding raw as if you hadn’t spoken in hours.

“I can explain this,” he repeated again, turning his palms towards you in surrender when he walked back over.  
“How can you explain this? You- That- That man was straight up hypnotized and behaved like an actual puppet. And that blood. This is crazy. I’m dreaming. That’s it right? Or someone must have slipped me something in the bar and I’m tripping right now. Because this looks an awful lot like you just sucked that guy’s blood like you’re a vampire and that’s crazy. Vampires aren’t real. And I’ve seen you walk around in the middle of the day. But then again, your hands are always cold and I couldn’t even scratch you with my nails and you have mad reflexes,” you started to spiral, the words just falling from your lips.  
“Hey, take a breath. A deep breath, here,” Jaehyun softly spoke, gently taking your hands and pressing the palms on his chest, taking a deep breath himself.  
Even though you tried to breathe with him to calm down, you couldn’t help but notice that his fingers weren’t as cold as they had been before and that you couldn’t feel his heartbeat despite the fact that your palm was sitting right over his heart, just separated by his thin black shirt from the skin.  
“You... You don’t have a heartbeat,” you whispered, your eyes searching his that were a perfectly normal deep brown shade now while you pressed your palms down on his chest harder.  
“I don’t,” he spoke carefully, scanning your features for any changes, “I haven’t had one for a while.”  
“You aren’t breathing right now.”  
“I don’t need to. I keep forgetting.”  
“You... You’re forgetting to breathe?”  
“I usually do when I’m around humans but sometimes I forget.”  
“You say that as if you’re not...” You couldn’t finish the sentence, it was too absurd.  
“As if I’m not human myself? I’m not. Not anymore.”  
“Then what are you?”  
“You’ve said it before, I’m a vampire,” he confessed.

“A vampire...” You repeated dumbfounded. It made sense, everything was adding up but this couldn’t be the explanation. Vampires were just made up.  
“And the others are too, they’re my coven. That’s why I didn’t want Johnny to talk to you.”  
“Would he have..?” Your eyes widened and one of your hands flew to your neck, covering where your pulse was fluttering beneath the skin.  
“I’m not going to hurt you, I could never,” Jaehyun whispered when he saw the fear in your eyes, gently cupping your face as if to prove his point. “I like you way too much to hurt you. And I won’t let anyone of the others even lay a finger on you.”  
Your eyes immediately flew to his lips that were still stained red when he leaned in even closer so you would be able to feel his breath mingling with yours if he was breathing.  
“I really want to kiss you right now, is that stupid?” The vampire whispered.  
“Don’t hurt me,” you whispered back, letting your eyes fall shut.  
“I could never,” he breathed before brushing his lips against yours in a chaste kiss that send sparks through your whole body.  
When Jaehyun felt you relax against him, your fingers uncurling from his shirt, he kissed you again, firmer this time, wrapping his arms tight around you as if he was afraid that you would disappear.

When you felt your head start to get light, you gently tapped his strong chest and he immediately retreated, looking at you with a worried expression.  
“One of us still needs to breathe,” you giggled breathlessly.  
“I’m sorry,” he smiled, carding his fingers through your hair, just watching you breathe for a moment, losing himself in your eyes.

“I have another secret to tell you,” Jaehyun broke the silence, his dimpled smile lighting up his face.  
“I don’t think you can shock me anymore,” you smiled back.  
“I didn’t actually kill any of the plants I bought. I just needed to have a reason to keep seeing you. Our house looks like a jungle.”  
You couldn’t stop giggling, leaning into his (not moving) chest that rumbled with his low chuckle.  
“You’re cute,” you smiled, snaking your arms around his waist below his jacket, somehow not even missing the warmth that bodies usually gave off.  
“Shut up,” he chuckled, wrapping you up in a tight hug.  
“You want to know something else?” You whispered into his chest after a while.  
The vampire just hummed, gently swaying you.  
“I looked up what the rose meant that you bought when you first came into the shop... You wanna know what it stands for?”  
Jaehyun hummed again.  
“It stands for immortality.”  
This time it was Jaehyun giggling, holding your body tighter to steady himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Bonus points for everyone who can find all the chamoes.  
> Thank you for reading!
> 
> Come find me on my tumblr


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